Paper to Petal: 75 Whimsical Paper Flowers to Craft by Hand

This is a really amazing book and a wonderful resource for crafters of any experience level with paper flowers. The authors provide endless inspiration for both creating flowers and ways to use your creations. The book is split up into several sections, including pictures of completed flowers for pure inspiration, a detailed how-to section with lots of instructions and tips on general techniques and materials, step-by-step instructions on how to make flowers featured in the earlier chapter, and then the largest collection of templates I've ever seen. Not only do the authors tell you how to make the flowers in the book, they also encourage you to mix and match templates and create your own to form entirely new flowers. While the flowers in this book are not the typical life-like recreations of real flowers found in other books, many of the designs can be altered to create realistic and beautiful flowers that can be mixed in with traditional crepe or tissue roses, daisies, and the like in any bouquet, arrangement, or favor. There are also a number of fun, whimsical designs that seem very fitting for more casual purposes. I am working on creating paper flowers for my wedding next summer, and am excited to include a number of flowers and ideas from this book. The images included are just gorgeous and the instructions are very detailed, even rated for difficulty so that users can know what to expect when starting a project. Honestly, the resources listing in the back of the book alone is invaluable for someone who has been trying to track down all the various online stores for different kinds of crepe paper, tissue, flower stamens, floral tape, decorative scissors, etc. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in crepe-paper flower making. Especially if used in conjunction with a book like "How to Make 100 Paper Flowers" by Maria Noble, you'll learn everything you need and never run out of ideas and projects!

I love paper arts and either dabble or dive into them depending on my schedule, need to indulge, budget, etc, and I've been committing a greater-than-average amount of time into paper arts booka for the last year. I've got a bookcase of some really cute books, some informative, and some works or art that I will never master. This book has it all, and then some. Photos, text, templates, bound in a really thick book. Not the usual craft book. There is a section devoted to the "examples" they have made for clients, all 75 flowers are magical. The next section describes the materials used to make paper flowers. The fact that they don't force any brand is a plus, if you aren't new to paper arts, you already have most of the materials, except, perhaps, for the stems and centers. The skills section is vital unless you are an expert in creating paper flowers. It is really useful that they have picture and text intermixed and that they break down flowers to their smallest parts. (center, stamen, stem, petal, etc) Each technique is introduced "contextually". So many helpful images of action and steps. Different means of shaping for different paper and a focus on creating rounded, organic forms. Because that is what nature is, correct? Organic, rounded flowers, no matter what colors you use are going to look amazingly real, just like all of the examples in the book, over something straight, flat, and fake. There is none of that in this guide. Not in the images or the writing, or even their style, it is really natural, beautiful and likeable. The how-to section gives you just that for each one of those 75 flowers, broken down to their visual individual parts, and marks the skill level of each one. They are using a scale, of 1,2 or 3,; 1(basic techniques) to 3 (advanced techniques). The authors are so kind as to give us some advice as how someone with a solid 2 level skill could modify a 3 flower project to their strengths, which I find especially helpful, and give you a rubric for mastery at each level. This is something more "high-level" crafters need to include in their guides; not just beginner techniques, not just advanced techniques or looks, but what does the spectrum look like, what does it include? How can I take a project that is too advanced and target it towards my level (What to remove in the flower? What to add to make the project look good, help me improve skills, but not look like my 3rd grader did it?) After the how-tos, as the other reviewers have stated, there are pages of templates to the shapes used for the flower - well over 200. They include a good source guide. One warning to the paper newbie, some of this paper and related materials can be extremely expensive. You can go through and find the materials that work for you and your project(s) at any price point with the variety of resources the authors include. This will be THE paper (handmade) flower book for the year, if not years. What an excellent job this couple has done on their first book (she was an style director at Martha Stewart Weddings and they run a design business), I look forward to seeing more from them!

I own several paper flower books and have been working with crepe paper flowers for several years. This is THE book. It's extremely well-organized and stunningly photographed, with clear and detailed instructions and relevant supply lists. Above all, this book is the most inspirational paper flower book out there. I read it cover to cover as soon as I opened the package and have made many gorgeous flowers inspired by the images in this book. Absolutely one of the 5 best craft-oriented books I've ever owned.

What I really want to make is huge flowers; 14"-20". Those instructions hide in Pinterest, and I was hoping I would be able to scale the flowers in this book to be very much larger. Jury is out on that point. I have made 14 poppies about 8" across out of a recycled curtain using one of these patterns. Easy enough. The flowers are fun, and whimsical / funky, and I have ideas I didn't have before, and ideas I hadn't seen on Pinterest. I have parts lists, and instructions, and suggestions for making variations on a theme. I got my money's worth from the book. I don't see a problem with the patterns being printed on both sides of the page, by the way. I can't imagine why anyone would need to trace the patterns; if I use a pattern at all (not likely), I will look at the suggested shape and draw something freehand. It's not tool-and-die making. The flowers are mostly created petal-by-petal. There is no speed-flowering here, except for a few frilly wraps. Many of the flowers are variations on a theme, rather than 75 entirely different flowers. I wish there had been a few spiky flowers, like a glad or a bird-of-paradise, or maybe a bromeliad or three. Instead, there are lots of variations on daisies and poppies and peonies. No calla lily.

Ottimo libro (che già conoscevo), ordinato per un regalo ad una cara amica di famiglia. Puntuale ed in anticipo la consegna.

It's hard to know where to start with this book, and what superlatives to use. It truly is one of the most extraordinary and beautiful books of it's kind that I have ever seen. My foray into the world of making paper flowers was very short-lived, but I had to keep this book, simply because of its quality and the wonderful inspirational contents. Anybody with any kind of interest in making paper flowers will feel that they have died and gone to Heaven when they dive into the pages! Or even anybody with an appreciation of what makes a book into something you just have to own. It is absolutely beautifully designed, with every single page bursting with colour. Not a single inch of its 256 pages is wasted, nor does anything feel like 'padding'. The first 111 pages show stunningly beautiful images and innovative arrangements of flowers that can (amazingly) be made with paper. It truly is hard to believe what you see, and I was left with my mouth open in awe. That description doesn't do it justice - the skill level and variety in the making of the blooms is really mind boggling, and whoever designed the book and took the fantastic photographs must be congratulated for its overall 'look'. Yet it doesn't feel like simply a 'coffee-table' book. Look more closely and on almost every page you will find little homely touches and small everyday objects which, while obviously part of the 'styling', somehow seem to make the whole book feel more accessible and appealing without being sickly or twee. Then we have a shorter but still (somehow!) visually attractive and interesting section on materials - again, no wasted space or unnecessary padding - everything is logically and economically laid out, but still manages to remain interesting to the eye, and the descriptions are clear and comprehensive. Then a section on the skills you will need - with close-up photographs of somebody's hands actually doing it, so the reader will know exactly what each process should achieve, and what results to aim for. Then a long section (pp 139 - 221) called 'How-Tos', which tells and shows you exactly what to do in order to make the fabulous flowers you drooled over in section one. All the projects are rated in Skill Levels 1-3, although they say a level 2 or 3 can be simplified by omitting steps like petal layers or adding colour. Each project gives you a list of materials, tools and templates you need, as well as clear step by step instructions and further 'project notes' at the end. Pages 224 - 251 give you every template you will need, followed by two pages of materials sources - unfortunately none in the UK that I can see, but hopefully as none of the tools or materials are particularly specialised, they should be readily available in this country Unusually, the authors have put their brief 'thank yous' at the end of the book, and here we also find out that they are a husband and wife photography and design team - no wonder the book looks so fabulous. I will probably never make a paper flower in my life, but if any book could tempt me to try, this would definitely be the one. Not just because of the inspiration it offers in showing just what CAN be made from seemingly humble materials like crepe paper, bits of wire and paint (plus of course skill, imagination and a lot of patience), but because the whole book itself seems to be a testament to creating something stunningly beautiful, and it has obviously been put together with loving care, and real thought for the reader, what he or she will need, and how to present it in as mouthwatering a way as possible. For anybody who IS idly wondering about making paper flowers - (don't let the word 'whimsical' in the title put you off - these are far more wonderful than whimsical) - I doubt you will find a better book and advise you to buy it at once! You won't be disappointed.

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わたしの宝物の一冊になりました。見ているだけで楽しい気持ちになり、童心にかえって工作の時間のようにワクワクする気持ちになれる本です。ペーパーフラワー初心者ですが、この本では初心者でもわかりやすいように基本的なテクニックも細かく画像付きで説明されています。英語ですが、画像を見ればすぐにわかるように書かれています。何より気に入っているのが、「作り手が楽しんで枠にとらわれない花々を作っているところ」と「その作り方のページまでもが、ひとつのコラージュ作品かのように凝ったヴィジュアルデザインで掲載されているところ」です。全ページにおしゃれなペーパーフラワーや、その作り方をコラージュのようにあしらったページで埋め尽くされていて、どのページを開いても、「英語を読まないとよくわからない」という部分がほとんどなく、この本一冊が見て楽しめる作品となっています。ペーパーフラワー作品を作ってみたい方も、お子さんといっしょに親子の時間を楽しみたい方にもおすすめしたい一冊です。

Beautiful paper craft instructions and inspiring. I enjoy reading every page of it! Great buy